Mom sits in her chair crocheting another baby blanket, her irritation toward me is palpable. “If you’d just tell me what kind of baby you’re having, I could use the right colors.” She sets the rainbow yarn and crochet needle to the side.

“I’m having the kind of baby that you will love.” I pat my round belly. I’m the only one who knows the sex of our baby. I’ve even kept Cooper in the dark.

He spent the first six months of our marriage getting to know everything about me. I had no more secrets, so I kept this one to myself. Truth be told, Cooper loves surprises, so this one’s for him.

“I will love my grandbaby no matter what, but look around you.” Mom points to the piles of blankets and beanies and booties in every color of the rainbow. “Which one is your favorite?”

She does this weekly. Always asking me to pick my favorite, but I never fall for it. If I pick the blue, she’ll assume it’s a boy. If I pick the pink, she’ll think girl. Instead, I pull the tiny green and yellow striped booties from the pile.

“I like these.” I start a rocking motion that helps me get to my feet.

“You’re impossible. I hope that husband of yours knows what a pain in the ass you will be.”

“He knows.” I waddle into the kitchen to grab a glass of water and spy the coffee cake on the counter. It’s my favorite—this week.

“Don’t eat too much of that or you’ll be as big as a house before you deliver.”

I pull down the T-shirt that says eating for two. “I am as big as a house and my husband loves me anyway.” It’s true. Cooper’s love and attraction for me grows with every pound. He’s obsessed with my breasts and loves my big bottom.

I’m halfway through the first piece when he and Brent and my dad walk inside the house.

“How’s my beautiful wife today?” He wraps me in a hug and picks me up like I weigh nothing. I like that even though I'm big, he makes me feel dainty. When he sets me down, he falls to his knees in front of my belly. “How’s my beautiful baby?” He loves to rest his cheek on my stomach and feel the movement. Sometimes it’s like a roller coaster and sometimes it’s like a rippling wave.

“All quiet today.”

He kisses my stomach and stands. With a bite of cake in his hand he presses it to my lips. “Eat up, sweetheart. You’re going to need your energy.”

I give him that cockeyed look that silently says, “Don't talk sex in front of my parents.”

He gives me a smile that says, “You’re nine months pregnant, they already know we have sex.”

“Good point,” I say out loud which throws everyone off but Cooper because he knows the silent conversation we had. We don’t need words to communicate. It’s always been that way, we were just too young to understand it.

“Ready to go home?” He sets his hand on the small of my back and rubs the exact place that’s been aching all day.

“Yes. I’m ready.” We walk past my parents, who have taken up their regular spaces in the living room. “We’re heading out. Cooper needs to check some plumbing at home.”

“You need to get that fixed,” Dad grumbles while he flips through the stations. “You two seem to have lots of problems with your pipes. Call a plumber.”

“It’s just one pipe, and I know exactly what to do with it,” Cooper says.

He gives my ass a little pat and leads me to the truck. “You sure are one cocky cowboy.”

“Only for you, sweetheart. Only for you.”

When we get home, Cooper takes his pipe out and puts it to work. If he keeps this up, the first thing all of our children will come out of the womb screaming is “Cooper.”

While he makes us a quick supper, I climb into the shower. My damn back has been aching for days, and it’s getting worse.

I’m halfway through when a thick band of pain squeezes my insides. I climb out of the shower and call for my husband. “Cooper, I need you.”

“Already?” he calls from down the hallway. His footsteps get louder as he gets closer. “You have an insatiable appetite, but I’m game.” He comes in the door with a wide smile on his face and loses it the minute he finds me on my knees gripping my stomach.

“Cooper, I need you to help me up and take me the hospital. You’re about to be a daddy.”

My man is fast and efficient when motivated. The big gush of water that follows my request gets him moving. He calls the doctor, calls my parents, and gets me to the truck.

By the time we arrive at the hospital my feet are propped up on the dashboard, and I’m panting like an overheated puppy. My contractions are coming like an eight on the Richter scale. A new earthquake is erupting the second I recover from the last.

Dr. Perry meets us at the hospital entrance with a gurney and a set of scrubs he tosses to Cooper. “Put these on and meet us in labor and delivery.”

Cooper gives me a quick kiss. “I’m about to have a baby,” he calls out to anyone listening.

I grip his hand and squeeze as the next contraction passes. “You don’t get to take the credit for birthing,” I grind out through gritted teeth.

“I love you,” he says. He runs toward the locker room while Dr. Perry chases the gurney to the delivery room. “He said he was going to have a baby. You still haven’t told him?”

I shake my head back and forth. “He loves surprises.” I clench the gurney as another wave of pain floods my body.

I’m fully dilated and pushing when Cooper runs in to take my hand.

“Sweetheart, are you okay?” He wipes my sweaty brow and kisses my lips.

I pant out a hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo for the next two hours and then the first cry erupts from the delivery room, and it isn’t from our son. It’s from Cooper and it happens the very second he sees his baby boy.

Little Coop belts out a huge scream and is handed off to a nurse. I wince again and squeeze Cooper’s hand until his knuckles turn white. I bear down, and seconds later our daughter is born. Her name is Lily after my second favorite flower because naming her Sunflower would be ridiculous.

“Two?” Cooper walks to the end of the bed and looks between my legs as if expecting more.

“Surprise!” I call out just as our babies are placed into his arms.

He cradles them to his body. “Look at them, Ellie. They’re perfect just like their mother…” His lips curl into a sly smile. “…and their father,” he finishes.

Once I’m in the recovery room, my parents rush in. My mom is carrying handfuls of blankets and bonnets of various colors. Our babies are fast asleep in the side-by-side basinets.

“Oh sweetheart, they are so beautiful,” Mom says as she tucks one of her creations around each grandchild.

My dad pats Cooper on the back as if he’s just given birth, and by the look of shock and awe on his face it would seem he did. “Your mom made enough baby stuff for another dozen kids.”

Cooper turns to me and gives me his I-love-you smile. “When Ellie’s up for it, we’ll work on the next batch. If we can push them out in twos, we can have a dozen in half the years.”

Cooper beams with pride, but when he glances at me and sees the I’m-going-to-kill-you look he says, “Or maybe we’ll stop at two. It’s really up to Ellie, my beautiful wife.”

He’s my cocky cowboy, and he’s smart too.